A month after EA announced it was ending its partnership with the World Rally Championship, and “pausing development” on all future rally games, publisher Nacon has revealed it’ll be the new home of official WRC titles starting 2027, in an agreement initially spanning six years.
EA inherited the World Rally Championship license as part of its acquisition of UK racing game specialist Codemasters in 2021, and its first WRC title – EA Sports WRC – released two years later in 2023. Last month, however, the publisher revealed it had “reached the end of the road working on WRC”, leaving the future of rally gaming somewhat uncertain given it also confirmed it was laying off staff and “pausing development plans on future rally titles”.
But less than a month later, a fresh World Rally Championship deal has been struck with a new company, Nacon – the publisher behind the likes of RoboCop: Rogue City and last year’s disappointing Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown. It’s perhaps not a huge surprise, given Nacon (formerly Bigben Interactive) previously held the WRC license between 2013 and 2022, and released nine titles in that time, culminating in WRC Generations.
EA’s first – and only – WRC effort launched in 2023..Watch on YouTube
As detailed in today’s announcement, Nacon’s new agreement “covers the development and publishing of the official WRC games and eSports competitions, granting [the company] exclusive rights for PC and consoles for six seasons, from 2027 through 2032.”
Nacon adds it’s now set to begin development of an “all-new WRC game series, aiming to deliver an immersive experience that faithfully reflects the reality of the championship and meets the expectations of both rally enthusiasts and new players”. These titles will mark a “complete reboot of the franchise”, and will include the likes of official rallies, vehicles, teams, drivers, and sponsors.
“After a comprehensive evaluation, we are delighted to have reached an agreement with Nacon,” World Rally Championship chief marketing officer Arne Dirks said in a statement accompanying today’s new. “[Its] vision for the franchise stands out, and their expertise in delivering great rally games is unquestioned. We look forward to breaking new ground together in this collaboration, to truly turn the WRC games into epic adventures and offer gaming experiences beyond rally as we know it today.”
The most recent game to release under the WRC license was the Codemasters-developed EA Sports WRC, which launched in 2023. Eurogamer called it a “joyous and rugged display of rally racing, with exquisite handling, lightly flecked by technical issues”, in our four star review.